About Home-Start North and West Gloucestershire

We provide emotional and practical support to families in Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, and the Forest of Dean.

We know that the earliest years of a child's life have a big impact on the rest of their lives. We offer one-to-one in-home support to parents; they are visited by fully trained and carefully matched volunteers who work alongside them to help raise their self-confidence and their ability to cope in an increasingly pressured society. As well as our home visiting support we provide free antenatal, postnatal, mother's and dad's groups in the community.

Our emphasis is on parents helping parents, so our volunteers are all parents or have parenting experience. They are trained, supported and supervised to Home-Start UK standards.

Our vision is to see families getting the support they need to give their children the best possible start in life. Our aims are to increase the confidence and the independence of families by:
• Offering support, friendship and practical assistance;
• Visiting families in their own homes, where the dignity and identity of each adult and child can be respected and protected;
• Reassuring parents that difficulties in bringing up children are not unusual and encourage them to enjoy family life;
• Developing a relationship with the family in which time can be shared and understanding can be developed: our approach is flexible to take account of different needs;
• Encouraging parents’ strength and emotional well-being and resilience for the ultimate benefit of their children;
• Encouraging families to widen their network of support and to use effectively the services available within the community.